Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A Leg Up

Unlike the laddies, ladies have many hosiery options (unless of course, you are a laddy who dresses like a lady).

I started femulating when ladies wore stockings with seams that were suspended by garters, typically, the garters built-into the girdles they wore.

That's how I started, but shortly thereafter, my hosiery supplier (Mom) switched to a new type of hosiery: stockings without seams. Since Mom switched, I also switched to stockings without seams, which were still suspended by "my" panty girdle ("my" because my girdle was "borrowed" from Mom).

A few years later, Mom switched again --- to a another new type of hosiery: pantyhose. I switched too and wore pantyhose for over 35 years.

About two years ago, I switched to thigh high stockings with built-in stay-up support. In general, I am very happy with the switch. During warm weather, they are cooler than pantyhose. In all weather, they are sexier than pantyhose and when nature calls, thigh highs are a non-issue unlike pantyhose.

My only complaint with thigh highs is that sometimes there is slippage and I have to find a ladies' room to pull them back up, although I do admit to sneaking a surreptitious thigh high adjustment outside the confines of the ladies' room if the coast is clear.

To prevent slippage, I bought a set of garters. Maybe I am taking coals to Newcastle, but I am willing to try the garters and avoid going back to pantyhose.

13 comments:

Started out with pantyhose switched to stockings with garters, but thigh highs with good support are my fav. Stockings with a garter can feel the best depending on what else you are wearing, and look hot. I rarely wear pamtyhose.

always stockings and garters ~ and there are three reasons: a) all of the convenience you mentioned; b) sizing is problematic and they never REALLY fit properly; and c) stockings and garters are so overwhelmingly feminine and that (after all) is the point :)

Hi girls! Interesting story, indeed the stockings tend to slip and that's annoying. Anyway, to answer the question, I'm using pantyhose for most of my outfits (as I usually like to show off my legs as much as possible, so I'm wearing tiny shorts and skirts and they look slutty with garters/stockings) but for the lingerie shots I prefer the stockings/garters. They look way more sensual and sexy than pantyhose, especially with lingerie. Now there are pantyhose with prints that mimic the stockings/garters and I start to like/wear them! They look fashionable and cute!

I am a child of the pantyhose generation, Love the 80's when you didn't leave the house without a pair covering your legs. There were commercials for PH allover the radio and TV and newspapers. There were all kinds of textures, and colors (sigh!!!!!!!!!)

But today my daughter doesn't ever own a pair of PH, She wore a beautiful Gucci LBD to a Christmas party with pair legs!! My daughters she'd look like an old lady if she wore PH!!

I am fortunate enough to not have vein problems in my legs as many women my age have so I love the bare leg look in warmer weather. Not only is it cooler for me but allows me to blend in with the number of women these days who do not wear hose at all. Now though, in the winter time, leggings and tights are my faves with boots and long cuddly sweaters and warmth!!!!

I prefer pantyhose, they just feel more comfortable on on.I like the fact that they are an all in one garment, no need to wear anything underneath,That eliminates lines under form fitting clothes or clingy fabricsI also enjoy that little extra tummy control you get with control top hose.Occasionally I will wear a pair of "dressy" shorts and pantyhose give me a polished and finished lookAnd in an emergency situation, they are easier to find a a pair to buy, I usually take a spare along with me, but sometimes you never know

I switched from pantyhose to thigh highs thanks to a post by you Stana, I buy good ones with wide bands and they stay up pretty well on hair free legs. I still keep my winter tights. And I do get compliments from the ladies at work.

As a crossdresser whose style sense was imprinted on me by ladies fashions from about 1950 to 1965, I have never liked pantyhose. Until about a year ago, I always wore stockings which I attached to either a garter belt or a girdle/body-shaper with hanging garters. But for the last year, I have switched exclusively to Berkshire Thigh High stockings in size "Queen 2". I love this product. They are high quality and fairly long-lasting and they stay up on my legs very well. I'm a smidgen over 6 feet tall in bare feet, and my Berkshire's stay up high on my legs. I think I tried the Berkshire Queen 2's on your recommendation.

I also prefer stockings to pantyhose because I enjoy wearing satiny 1950's/60's style full brief nylon tricot lace-trimmed panties ... they look so lovely with stockings. Vanity Fair has a couple full brief style nylon tricot panties that look and feel fabulous. The Berkshire stockings complement them.

It all depends, mostly I will wear tights (what you call pantyhose) especially if I'm wearing a formal dress, at the moment I love thicker opaque tights with boots with a denim skirt or snugly sweater dress, if very hot I might abandon hose altogether, stockings are kept strictly for when I want feel extra sexy, the pull of the suspender straps over bare thighs.....arghhh But hold ups, on me they just don't!

At this time of year, it's definitely opaque tights...under everything. During the other seasons, I almost always wear pantyhose - for complete support, per my doctor's instructions several years ago. The better half has no issues with them.

Another reason I wear "something": I hate the feeling of bare feet in closed shoes. However, in hot weather, if I'm wearing shorts or capris and sandals, I go without, and just "deal with it"...

I echo Marci's, Julie's and Mandy's sentiments. I wear pantyhose 99% of the time. I do have some traditional stockings and some stay ups in my drawer and I have a few girdles and corsets with garters that work best with stockings or stay ups but I am essentially a pantyhose person.

For many years my dressing was limited to underdressing or dressing in hotel rooms while away on business. Two incidents cemented my becoming almost exclusively an pantyhose person.

About 20 years ago I was on a business trip. I was wearing a traditional style girdle with tabs holding up my stockings under my business suit. That evening we were at a dinner with about 10 people and I was seated next to a very nice young lady. We were eating, drinking, chatting and being friendly when she placed her hand on my thigh directly on top of the garter tab holding up my stocking. She left her hand there for an extended moment and looked directly at me. Nothing was said but there was no question in my mind that she instantly knew what I was wearing under my slacks. After that I would no longer wear stockings with a girdle or garter under my pants and would mostly wear either stay ups or pantyhose.

A few years later I was walking with two business associates in a mid-west city. It was about a 4 block walk from the office to where we were headed for lunch. I was wearing stay ups and as we walked I felt slippage start. There was no place to duck for an adjustment and as we kept walking first one stocking slid all the way down and then the other. I tried to walk a half step behind and to keep the conversation lively until we got to the restaurant. By then I could see the off black stockings and part of the stay up bands start to peek out from under my pant leg. Nothing was ever said and I am not sure if the situation was noted but I know that they had a chance to see what was going on down around my feet.

Thank you for the post and the comments of your other readers. It gave me pause to think back on my own crossdressing and reflect on these two incidents. In general I find pantyhose comfortable and comforting and much less subject to the type of wardrobe malfunctions noted above.

I will wear pantyhose or tights for most times dressing, partially for keeping me tucked and partially for shaping. However, when I have more time and want to be extra feminine, then I put on the garters and stockings. I do not like thigh highs, as I never feel that the band will stay in place.